Richard E Grant struck gold in a charity shop – now he’s fronting a camping to inspire others to do the same
Richard E Grant has revealed that one of the most consequential pieces of secondhand clothing he ever bought was a Burberry trench coat from Oxfam – because it helped him land the role that made his name.
“My life-changing career break happened because I was wearing a second hand coat I bought in an Oxfam shop,” he says. “It was 1986 and I arrived for my ‘Withnail & I’ audition soaking wet and in a second hand Burberry trench coat. Turned out I’d nailed the look for the part without even trying – So, no Oxfam, no Withnail!”
Forty years later, Grant is fronting Oxfam’s Second Hand September campaign, which encourages people to buy pre-loved clothes, donate those they no longer wear, and keep their existing wardrobes in circulation for longer.
The campaign launch comes backed up with evidence that many people are already questioning how much clothing they need. Oxfam’s new State of Style report found that 57% of UK adults deliberately tried to buy fewer clothes during the past year.
Its findings are based on polling of 3,037 UK adults carried out in July of this year. The charity plans to repeat its study annually to track whether Britain’s relationship with clothing is becoming more sustainable.
However, there is still a lot of clothing sitting around unused. The research found that almost a third of the pieces in an average UK wardrobe had not been worn in the previous year, while four in 10 people said they had worn an item of clothing just once.
One in five people surveyed admitted to still throwing unwanted clothes away, rather than donating, repairing or reselling them.
The environmental cost goes well beyond the clothes themselves. Oxfam estimates that the water used to produce clothing currently sitting unworn in Britain’s wardrobes would be enough to provide one million people with drinking water for a lifetime.
Second Hand September was launched in 2019, but secondhand fashion has since become increasingly mainstream, helped by the growth of resale platforms alongside charity shops and vintage retailers. Oxfam has more than 500 shops around the UK as well as its online store.
It was 1986 and I arrived for my ‘Withnail & I’ audition soaking wet and in a second hand Burberry trench coat
The campaign is also tapping into an idea that buying less does not have to mean taking less pleasure in clothes. Grant says he has always loved clothes “that have lived a life before you”; he still wears pieces he has owned for decades, alongside clothes that belonged to people he loves and things he has picked up over the years.
“Original style isn’t about buying more. It’s about finding pieces with a story, keeping them for as long as you can, and passing them on for someone else to discover. We’ve already got too much of everything. Reusing and upcycling clothing – second-hand, vintage, call it what you like – just makes perfect sense.”
Images: Sane Seven for Oxfam’s Second Hand September 2026 Campaign
Be part of the solution
At Positive News, we’re not chasing clicks or profits for media moguls – we’re here to serve you and have a positive social impact. We can’t do this unless enough people like you choose to support our journalism.
Give once from just £1, or join 1,800+ others who contribute an average of £3 or more per month. Together, we can build a healthier form of media – one that focuses on solutions, progress and possibilities, and empowers people to create positive change.
Facts Only
* Richard E Grant is the face of Oxfam’s Second Hand September campaign.
* Grant wore a secondhand Burberry trench coat from Oxfam to his 1986 audition for 'Withnail & I'.
* Second Hand September encourages buying pre-loved clothes, donating unused items, and extending wardrobe circulation.
* Oxfam’s State of Style report polled 3,037 UK adults in July.
* 57% of UK adults attempted to buy fewer clothes in the past year.
* Nearly one-third of items in average UK wardrobes were not worn in the previous year.
* 40% of respondents wore an item of clothing only once.
* 20% of surveyed individuals throw unwanted clothes away instead of donating, repairing, or reselling.
* Oxfam estimates unworn UK clothing represents enough production water to provide drinking water for one million people for a lifetime.
* Oxfam operates over 500 shops in the UK and an online store.
Executive Summary
Richard E Grant is partnering with Oxfam to promote "Second Hand September," a campaign designed to reduce textile waste by encouraging the purchase and donation of pre-loved clothing. Grant links the initiative to his own career, noting that a secondhand Burberry coat contributed to his successful audition for 'Withnail & I' in 1986. The campaign argues that sustainable fashion is not merely about reduction, but about finding value and personal history in older garments.
Supporting data from Oxfam’s State of Style report indicates a shift in UK consumer behavior, with over half of adults attempting to reduce their clothing purchases. Despite this, significant waste persists: a large portion of wardrobes remain unused, and a fifth of people continue to discard clothes in the trash. The environmental impact is highlighted by the massive volume of water used to produce these unworn garments. While the rise of resale platforms has mainstreamed secondhand fashion, the charity seeks to further decouple the pleasure of style from the act of new consumption.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative is a call for conscious consumerism, using a high-profile celebrity success story to rebrand "used" clothing as "vintage" or "story-rich," thereby removing the social stigma of secondhand shopping to address a genuine environmental crisis.
The persuasion strategy relies on a celebrity anecdote to provide an emotional hook, then pivots to statistical data to establish urgency. However, the "State of Style" report is produced by the very organization that benefits from the resulting increase in donations and shop traffic. This creates a closed loop where the entity identifying the problem also provides the primary solution.
Patterns detected: ARC-0043 Authority Game
The underlying paradigm is one of "circular economy," assuming that shifting the mode of consumption from new to secondhand is sufficient to mitigate the environmental cost of the garment industry. It ignores the systemic role of fast-fashion production cycles, focusing instead on individual consumer choices and the "pleasure" of the hunt. This frames the solution as a lifestyle choice rather than a systemic industrial overhaul.
The benefit accrues to the charity's operational capacity and the environment, though the second-order effect may be the "commodification of thrift," where the rise of resale platforms drives up the prices of secondhand goods, potentially pricing out the demographics who rely on charity shops for necessity.
Bridge Questions:
1. Does the growth of professional resale platforms complement charity shops, or does it cannibalize the affordable clothing supply for low-income individuals?
2. To what extent does promoting "secondhand shopping" encourage a continued culture of high-volume consumption, even if the items are pre-owned?
Counterstrike Scan: A coordinated influence campaign would use a "celebrity-to-statistic" pipeline to manufacture a trend and drive traffic to a specific commercial or non-profit endpoint. While this content follows that structure, it remains a standard charitable appeal rather than a deceptive operation.
Sentinel — Human
The text reads like a human-written feature article that effectively synthesizes personal narrative with statistical reporting on sustainability trends.